"This is an historic day…"

Those were Joe Torre’s first words when he addressed the team yestserday and it certainly was an historic day yesterday, the first workout at Camelback Ranch – Glendale. Many of us in the front office were talking in an afternoon meeting about how cool it would be to have been at the first workout at Dodgertown in 1949 and we can only hope that 60 years from now, people look back on the history here like they do in Vero Beach.

I saw a comment from yesterday here about a Dylan Hernandez story and wondering why I didn’t respond to it. I’m not sure which article that was referring to, as Dylan writes every day, but please let me know what I can clarify for all of you…I’m happy to do so.

Speaking of Dylan and the LA Times, there’s a lengthy feature in today’s Travel section that really takes everything into account from the fan’s perspective. The best seats in the house, parking, hotels, etc.

Lots of position players are showing up early, as I just ran into Casey Blake and Juan Pierre on their way in the building. Juan’s a big NBA fan, so he was at yesterday’s Slam Dunk contest, as were Joe Torre, Rick Honeycutt, and Charley Steiner, among others. I even ran into Luis Gonzalez on the concourse and got to catch up with him. Still one of the nicest guys in all of baseball.

The other article I was referring to was the one where he did the story on the lack of Season Tickets for ST and the lack of big sponsors as well. What I was interested in was how he started the article off, I’m paraphrasing, by saying that the move to AZ might not be the financial windfall that the McCourts thought it was. I noted that statement was in direct contrast to your statements about the move being strictly about the fans and not about revenue streams. Dennis Manion was quoted a few times in the article as well and he seemed a bit confused as to why the revenue streams were not what he would’ve thought (he blamed the economy). Interesting also was that Randy Wolf stated that tickets were a bit pricey (that sounds familiar), but Mr. Manion stated there were no plans to lower ticket costs (shocking that the Dodgers realize the ecomony is bad but still don’t take that into account). At any rate, I was looking for your comments on the article because you usually do address things where statements that you put in the blog sometimes don’t jive with statements by others within the organization.

Go Denny Hamlin!!! I also like Kyle Busch, and I am pulling for the new guy on our Joe Gibbs Racing Team, Joey Legano. Redskins fan, Joe Gibbs Racing – kind of fits. I like a lot of drivers though – Jimmie, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, David Regan, and Regan Smith.

Josh-thank you for all the Spring Training updates. I look forward to my trip to Arizona to kick off some Dodger baseball. Maybe I’ll get the chance to see you there :)
.
Baseball is in the air~ What a good feeling.

dishguy ~ about JP not being too happy. I totally agree with him when he says if Andruw can be traded so can I. To make him happy, management has to grant his wish and find a team who can use his services.

I understand JP wants to play, but so much for his “team guy” image. Ever since he was outplayed to the bench last season its been me me me, and it looks like it still is. I was hoping that would be different this spring, but he wasn’t even satisfied when he was playing last year because he wasn’t in center.

For a guy that’s supposed to be building not only a good team, but one with character also, Ned’s striking out there as well – JP, Andruw, Long Gone…

I’m hoping Ned gives it time to see what develops in ST, find JP a team, eat ½ or ⅔ his contract and get us a couple of prospects for him.

tru – Just like Jones, JP is untradeable, no matter what he thinks. He actually is a useful guy to have around as the 4th or 5th outfielder; too bad he is being paid like a starter. I also don’t think they want to buy him out either because of the simple fact that he is somewhat useful unlike Jones.

Trublu, funny thing when the Dodgers were finally on a winning streak, they thought that the Dodger garden gnome was the good luck charm. Someone stole it out of the bullpen (many thought it was Brad Penny since he had a horrible season) so I gave Joe Beimel another one personally before the game which he immediately put in the same place in the bullpen. They continued the winning streak. That is a true story.

Well, Jeff Gordon did not win…aw shucks…I thought the article on Pierre showed he is a realist in that when Manny signs he is out of a job…Any ballplayer that comes to camp wants to play so I do not begrudge him for stating that…It sounds as if he is in a good frame of mind….

It feels good to be starting another season as I’m doing my own checking on individual tickets at Citi & Yankee Stadium.
I usually catch as much of the Dodger series as I can, among other games, at the Met’s ballpark and this year I can’t wait to see Citi Field, which resemble Ebbet’s Field, on the outside, which you might have heard and especially the Jackie Robinson Rotunda.
I’m wondering how difference the new Yankee Stadium will be.
As a Dodger fan it’s been great to watch my team on MLB.TV. and it goes without saying, how I enjoy following the team on this website.

Sitting here in Limbo
Waiting for the tide turn.
Yeah, now, sitting here in Limbo,
So many things I’ve got to learn.
Meanwhile, they’re putting up a resistance,
But I know that my faith will lead me on.

Sitting here in Limbo
Waiting for the dice on Manny to roll.
Yeah, now, sitting here in Limbo,
Still got some time to search my soul.
Meanwhile, they’re putting up a resistance,
But I know that my faith will lead me on.

I don’t know where life will take me,
But I know where I have been.
I don’t know what life will show me,
But I know what I have seen.
Tried my hand at love and friendship,
That is past and gone.
And now it’s time to move along.

Sitting here in Limbo
Like a bird ain’t got a song.
Yeah, I’m sitting here in Limbo
And I know it won’t be long
‘Til I make my getaway, now.
Meanwhile, they’re putting up a resistance,
But I know that my faith will lead me on.

I don’t know where life will take me,
But I know where I have been.
I don’t know what life will show me,
But I know what I have seen.
Tried my hand at love and friendship,
That is past and gone.
And now it’s time to move along.

Gonna lead me on now.
Meanwhile, they’re putting up resistance,
But I know that my faith will lead me on.
Sitting in Limbo, Limbo, Limbo.
Sitting in Limbo, Limbo, Limbo.
Sitting in Limbo, Limbo, Limbo.
Meanwhile, they’re putting up a resistance,
But I know that my faith will lead me on.

“But Pierre said he reported to camp early — three days before position players are required to do so — with the intention of earning a starting position, whether it is in left field or center.”

“Pierre wasn’t the only position player to report early. Also in camp Sunday were Casey Blake, Andre Ethier, Jason Repko and Chin-lung Hu.”

Instead of showing up to Spring Training and “announcing” his intentions, couldn’t he just shut up, get in shape and see what shakes out? Sounds like Gonzo more and more every day. Even without Manny, Juan will have a tough time beating out Repko, who outplayed Pierre last Spring.

Oh, enchanted, yee of little faith. I’ll buy you a beer at the, ahem, ITD stadium tour, if Juan starts in left field, sans Manny. And I’ll throw in a shot of Jose if he’s in the two hole. Joe is in his PVL-stroke mode right now. When push comes to shove, the only thing Juan can do better than Repko is spell his last name with more letters.

Speaking of Joe, did you catch the video of his “inspirational” speech about wearing the uniform? Perhaps if he actually knew some Dodger history he could talk about it. Might also help if he put some inflection in his voice instead of the monotone dance of the living dead. If I was a player, about the only thing his speech would motivate me to do is swallow some strychnine.

It seems like this place was a little slow today. I see junkyardjamie stole my personality of a comment. It’s that schitzophrenia (sp?) kicking in again I suppose. Dishguy, I was glad to be of service to you in teaching you how to copy and paste. Like I said some of the best things I have learned have been right here on ITD and that was one of them.

bpb – If this is just getting warmed up for you, I can wait to see what’s ahead.

I lost Kyle for good, Denny got back out, and I think all of my others managed to stay out – David Regan and Kasey Kahne did well and I have both of them. I haven’t checked points yet so maybe it wasn’t so bad. Like you said onto Fonatana.

No, we are staying in LaQuinta thru tomorrow and leaving Tuesday morning. Michael has his first pre-season game on Wednesday (weather permitting) and I kind of want to be there to watch it. So, how was your day other than the race? Are you doing Star Wars day tomorrow?

…I meant to say “stay out on the track” meaning that they weren’t involved in the big collision. As for today, it went very well. My nephew’s team took 2nd in the tournament and lost the championship game in extra innings. I must say, I am glad I am not a parent in the little league ages anymore. I think the parents and coaches are getting more and more intense.

…actually, I take that back. The only driver I had that got completely taken out of the race was Busch. Everyone else either wasn’t involved or managed to get back out there. Denny actually ended up 26th, and after getting completely sandwiched in the crash, wasn’t so bad.

First, I need to go back and thank dodger4life, enchantedbag, dishguy and rose for their congrats on the last thread!

I think Star Wars day is a GO! Perfect for a rainy day.

I was horsing around with Lucy in the backyard before the race. She wasn’t letting me do my gardening and I was rough-housing a bit. She nailed me with one of her teeth on my chin and I bled like a stuck pig for a few minutes. My fault, not hers. Matt and I got under the dash of the Chevelle and got the CD player working. Sounds pretty good and he’s really happy. My mom came over for dinner and we got some good gin rummy in afterward. I mentioned that you guys might be coming back to Orange County for Michael’s tournament (I think I’m right, aren’t I?) and Matt says, “Is Mariya coming?” LOL!!

I’m putting the points into my spreadsheet right now. Even though unofficial, I want to make sure everything is doing what it’s supposed to.

The funny thing about your day is other than you hurting your chin (Ouch!) I magically knew about the rest….hmmm, including getting the radio fixed in the Chevelle and the card game with your mom…..interesting don’t you think :) LOL!!!! Yes, we are coming back down to Anahiem during Spring Break (the week of April 13th for us).

Isn’t it kind of strange how JP’s name ended up the headline about who came out to Spring Training Early. Why him? Andre, Casey Blake, Jason Repko, and Chin Lun Hu showed up early too. I know they were mentioned in the article, but why is such a big deal being made about JP showing up early?

During the game…..how about all day long since about 10:30 this morning, which I am assuming is when you got home from church – LOL!!!!! I got a report about the Chevelle being worked on probably around 1 ish (I wasn’t paying attention to time, just knowing we were eating lunch). Then I got a report that you were playing cards around 8ish…..we were watching movies with my sister-in-law. Yes,there is definitely a practical joke in there somewhere LOL!!!!!

I don’t know. If it were other people writing the articles, I’d suspect a little pot-stirring was going on. But Hernandez and Gurnick are both Dodger publicists.

I don’t know whether to LMAO or get angry. When he was accused of being untradeable, he drags Jones into it saying, “When they want to get rid of guys, they get rid of guys.” You gotta love that quote. Does he know the difference between a trade and a release? Read my lips, Juanpy – YOU ARE UNTRADEABLE!!! NO ONE WANTS TO PAY YOU $28.5 MILLION FOR THE NEXT 3 YEARS!!!

I would normally not notice all this, but when you are sitting right next to a person who every 5 minutes or so is saying “awwww” and blushing, it’s a little hard not to pay attention. In all honest kind of funny and sweet at the same time. I guess the conversation last night didn’t involve anything I didn’t already know……including Matt’s surgery and plans after highschool.

About JP – I have no idea what the writer’s goals are because it certainly isn’t helping him….it’s just making us question more why he is even an option for left field at this point at least without a “real” competition between the other outfielders.

Let’s see, church was over at 10. We stopped to get some breakfast to take home, but he was driving and couldn’t text – 10:30 is probably pretty close. Not long after the race started he came in a little frustrated because he couldn’t figure the stereo and since I don’t put family second we jumped on it together, so that’s about right. I think we started the cards around 7 and finished around 9 – 9:30.

I don’t know who the writer really was. The Gurnick article on the Dodger site and the Hernandez article in the LA Times were virtually the same loveletter.

Could we be getting another starter? If Ned sees this:

“Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd has long felt the game of baseball was taken away from him far too soon. He was 31 years old when he threw his last pitch for the Texas Rangers in 1991.

But now, at age 49, Boyd believes his shoulder is stronger than ever. He says his velocity is up in the low 90s and the 12-6 curveball and changeup have returned. He wants a chance to show a major league team he can still pitch.

“I have nothing to lose, and all a major league team has to lose is 15 minutes,” said Boyd. “Give me 15 minutes and I’ll show I can still pitch. That’s all I want.”

I did well. Bowyer (4th) with 160 and Ragan (6th) with 150 picked up Jimmie (31st) and his 70. My opponent had a bad start with a total of 172 (he has Shrub and Kahne and Vickers). As I said, these numbers are unofficial but are usually pretty close to the final ones.

Well, as usual, I’ve had a fine chat with you and it’s time to hit the rack. God Bless you and yours, Junie and I’ll talk to you later on. Maybe Monday will bring some decent news in Dodgerland!

Let’s hope for some good Dodger news…that would be great!!! Nice job in NASCAR fantasy today. Good Night Ward Dear…… a pleasure as always to talk with you. Take Care and God Bless to your wonderful family as well.

WTF?! Who came up with these schedules? In the month of April the padres have 10 home games, the gnats have 11, the rockies have 9, The Dodgers have ONLY 7, and the stupid snakes have…18 !! That is ridiculous. Good news is that if we can beat peavy in the first game of the year then we could start 4-0 cause the padres are basically putting a minor league team on the field this year, and it’s also nice to know we dont have to see matt holliday in colorado anymore. This division is ours!! GO DODGERS!!!!

Good morning Trublu. I know you are up, reading the paper and drinking coffee.
I am on cloud nine this morning. I looked on the home page of MLBlogs which is linked to the Dodgers web page. I found out that I am one of the featured MLB blogs!!! And that is after only less than one week. So far Mark and Julia who have their own super blogs have posted to welcome me to the blog world. If you go to MLBlogs, under the picture, I am the second featured blog. I just feel so lucky. I am still true to ITD though.
It is raining here in Southern California, and not just a light rain. I actually ordered rain boots. I wear sandals all year around so the few pairs of shoes I have are not appropriate for rain wear. By the time I get the boots, the rain will be gone for another year. :-)
This has to be the week that things start happening. The guys are working out now. Tomorrow will be Andre’s arbitration hearing. I wish it didn’t have to come to this. But what I know of Andre, he will survive and flourish anyway. Everyone have a wonderful day. Will post later.

Good morning ITDland ~ was listening to the radio from LA last night and Tony Jackson doesn’t expect Manny to be signed until March………..thinks Boras will make him wait, to see if there is a major injury to some player and then the team will swoop in on Manny. I hope Manny has the courage to take the next deal offered by the Dodgers, and join the team.
.
My best to you Andre in your arbitration hearing. I truly hope you get the money you deserve.

More rumors and thought’s about Manny!!!
.
3. I try to ignore all the conspiracy theories that cloud my brain, but I will share this one with you that keeps popping up over and over: Manny Ramirez will sign with the Dodgers tomorrow. Why?

Two reasons: 1) Scott Boras represents both Ramirez and Alex RodriguezAlex Rodriguez , and I have no idea if Ramirez walking into Dodger camp tomorrow can distract any of the attention away from what will occur at the George tomorrow with A-Rod’s press conference, but it sure might be worth a try. 2) But I am sure that the A-Rod press conference can distract from Ramirez. And if Ramirez ends up signing a contract for the same two years at $45 million range (or worse) that the Dodgers first offered in early November then isn’t Boras going to look, you know, silly? Since Boras reacted to that initial bid by ignoring it and saying dismissively,
“On behalf of Manny Ramirez, we will, for the first time, begin accepting serious financial offers.”
.
.http://blogs.nypost.com/sports/st/archives/2009/02/3_up_mo_joba_an.html

Rams – I’m sure Jack Kevorkian gives the same pep talk to put you to sleep so you don’t feel a thing before you slip away into the afterlife. Is it any wonder why this team played with all the fire of a wet rag before Manny came?

good morning ITD!
It has been raining very hard since I left work this morning! My pant legs were so wet even though I had an umbrella but I rather take public transportation than drive, especially on a day like today. Hope everyone is well. Stay warm Rose! I’ve been very busy and did not have time to post.
.
Heart _ I was standing in back of you the day you gave Beimel that gnome! I did not know that was you!
.
Emma

You guys know I can’t stand him so I won;t harp to much…i think he is the most selfish ballplayer I have ever seen play. Both on the field and the things he has said….But this is a perfect example of his myopia…
—
“One thing they want that I can’t do is hit for power.”

—

No what we want, including me, is to not make so many outs, to work the count, to take pitches, to move runners over, to not always hit a weak grounder to 2nd base or a pop up to left field. In otherwords be Brett Butler. Instead all he does (and why i call him selfish) is go up there and hope to make contact and hope he can beat out a throw. In 600 at bats he figures to do that 50 times, get a hole with a grounder thru 2nd 50 times, hope the pop up to lf droops 50 times and then he hits the ball hard maybe 50 times all year. 30 of them fall for hit. There is his 180-190 hits, no walks, 90 runs, 38rbi and 50 steals…******* freakin do..

I have said it a zillion times Pierre lovers, if he was playing the way he used to play when he got on base 40 percent more of the time, it would still be hard to take but at least he would have positive value..

He has chosen, in February no less… to make the first few days of 2009 Dodger Baseball all about him. Go away. I’d give him to the Padres, Rockies, Dbacks, Giants for free if they promised to play him 162 games.

jungar – no arguments here whatsoever. I am assuming he showing up to ST early (which he wasn’t the only one, but for some reason is getting all the headlines for it) is similar to him showing up to the ballpark 8-10 hours before the game. What good does it do you if you aren’t improving on anything.

Pierre is sporting a .326, .330, .331, .327 OBP the last 4 full years. He even knows this is piss poor and the reason he is benched. But noooo he has to make it a scapegoat thing…

—I have to reprint this cause it so funny. This is from a cub blog before we signed Pierre.
—————-

When it became clear that Corey Patterson was no longer welcome with the Cubs, they were in need of a superstar center fielder. When they couldn’t find one, they settled on Juan Pierre. Pierre brought his undeserved reputation for being a good base stealer, his complete lack of power, his rag arm, and his idiotic McDonald’s commercial with him. You know who clearly doesn’t know a damn thing about baseball? Jay-Z. Juan Pierre is without a doubt the worst player to ever obtain “superstar” status.

On December 7, 2005, the Cubs traded Sergio Mitre, Ricky Nolasco, and Renyel Pinto to the Florida Marlins for Pierre in a move which was long rumored to be in the works. The rumors gave Cubs fans plenty of time to get angry about the trade.

Pierre was excited to patrol in front of the ivory at Wrigley Field. Yes, ivory. Prior to the 2003 NLCS, Pierre said that the only thing he was nervous about was crashing into the “ivory” on the walls of Wrigley Field. If by “ivory” Pierre meant “my fist,” and by “crashing” he meant “getting punched repeatedly by,” then his worries were justifiable. If you recall, that 2003 NLCS was the same NLCS during which Pierre was a complete nightmare for Cubs pitching. Imagine my surprise that it didn’t translate once he put on the blue pinstripes.

Let me run you through about 90% of Pierre’s Cub at-bats. On the first pitch, Pierre fakes like he’s going to bunt. Called strike one. Here’s a question. Why? Why in the hell is Pierre faking a bunt on the first pitch of every at-bat? I’m pretty sure that opposing teams already have the scouting report on Pierre. It reads:

Good speed. Absolutely no chance of hitting the ball out of the ballpark infield. Sprays balls to all infielders. Defensively, should consider using short-centerfielder with two outfielders. Likes to bunt for 200 meaningless singles each year. Used to have a ridiculous mustache. Wears baseball cap under batting helmet like he’s still in f@#$ing tee ball. Looks like he’s in f@#$ing tee ball. Hits like he’s in f@#$ing tee ball. Pitch him like he’s in f@#$ing tee ball. Seriously. Go ahead. Walk the ball up to him, set it on a tee, and watch him “square up” a three-hopper to the first baseman.

Seriously, what was the point of Pierre faking a bunt on the first pitch? Everyone knew the only chance he had of reaching first base safely was to bunt. Pierre showing bunt was about as surprising as Lindsay Lohan admitting that she has an eating disorder and boob job. No. F@#$ing. ****.

The second pitch of a typical Pierre at bat is usually fouled straight back to the screen. Generally, that was the best contact you were going to see during the at-bat. With Pierre, you took what you could get. “Holy ****! Pierre hit a line drive!” you might say. “So what if it was going in the exact opposite direction that we need it to go? It was a screamer!”

On the third pitch, Pierre swings with all his might and hits a seven-hopper to the second baseman. Most of the excitement of watching Pierre play comes in the moment between the time he makes contact, and the time he is thrown out at first base by half a step. Pierre is so astonishingly weak, that opposing second basemen have to charge his grounders at full speed. So every routine 4-3 putout makes idiot fans like me rise to our feet in the hopes that Pierre will beat out the throw to first. Pierre is that perfect combination of speed and limp-dick hitting which makes him all but guaranteed to be thrown out by just a split second on every single groundout. Exciting, I guess, but also a complete waste of 1/3 of an inning each time Pierre steps to the plate.

Pierre has a reputation for not striking out often. What’s his secret? He swings early, and he swings often. Pierre has no idea how to wait for a hitter’s pitch, which is fine since he wouldn’t know what to do with it, anyhow, what with him not being an actual hitter.

Since Pierre refuses to take pitches, he also rarely walks, and he doesn’t see many pitches per at-bat. Basically, he pretty much blows as a leadoff hitter. Yet somehow he was Jim Hendry’s 2006 answer to the leadoff question. Good God. Perhaps if Pierre had spent his pregame routine standing in the batter’s box watching pitches and identifying balls and strikes instead of rolling his balls down the foul lines, he might have been a more useful player.

I’d like to take this opportunity to set the record straight about Pierre’s abilities as a base stealer. Pierre sucks at stealing bases. He’s terrible at it. The guy is fast, no doubt. But he doesn’t get good jumps, he doesn’t read pitchers well, and he never surprises anyone when he chooses to run. That’s why in his career Pierre has only been successful in 73% of his steal attempts. In comparison, legitimate base stealer Rickey Henderson stole successfully 81% of the time. What? It’s not fair to compare the eventual Hall of Famer to Pierre? Okay. Then former center fielder Corey Patterson also stole bases at an 81% rate. Sure, he didn’t steal as many bases as Pierre, but he gave away an out less than one out of every five times he was on base. Pierre gave one away greater than one out of every four times.

Screw you, Pierre, for making me defend Corey Patterson.

Pierre was equally impotent in the field. Sorry, Juan. Every time he threw home, I expected Michael Barrett to start doing a jig next to an enormous pot of gold. Pierre’s arm is so outstandingly bad, even the completely disinterested Los Angeles sports media realizes. You have to be all kinds of awful for a sportswriter in California to acknowledge it. Christ, Dusty Baker didn’t even draw that much ire in his time in San Francisco.

Pierre was let go after the 2006 season to make room for new center fielder Alfonso Soriano/Felix Pie/Matt Murton/Jacque Jones/Angel Pagan. One of the guys the Cubs gave up for one worthless year of Pierre, meanwhile, has gone 2-2 with a 1.89 ERA and a 1.112 WHIP. That’s right. Sergio Mitre is pitching great this year.

Screw you, Larry Rothschild.
Low Point: Everyone’s favorite leadoff hitter only drew two walks in the entire month of September, 2006, and both of those came in the same game. Pierre went twenty-five games at the end of the season (nearly all of September into October) without drawing a single walk. To illustrate how bad that is, Pierre actually had one more home run during that time than he did walks. Did You Know? In case you’ve been waiting this whole time to come with a “but he had 200 hits” argument, think again. Pierre’s 204 hits in 2006 were the most hollow 204 hits in Major League history. Pierre is only the second player ever to record more than 200 hits in a season without batting .300 (Pierre hit .292). Buddy Bell did it in 1979. The only difference is that Bell just barely got the hits (exactly 200) and just barely missed the average (he hit .299). Oh, and Bell hit 18 homers, drove in 101 RBIs, and slugged .451, as opposed to Pierre’s 3 homers, 40 RBIs, and .388 SLG.

I just put a picture in my blog of James Loney and I from the Canter’s event. i only asked Loney for a pic :-). I just talked to the rest of the guys.
.http://crzblue.mlblogs.com/
.
ohoh big boss in town…time to work!

Tomorrow is “Screw Andre Day”, or at the very least “Try to Screw Andre Day”. You all know who’s doing it – yes, it’s your favorite owners Frank and Jamie and their faithful underlings Ned and Ng. Beating Andre in arbitration would be one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in sports. It’s not too late to make a decent offer of $3.5 million, but I don’t see that coming, not with this foul bunch.

“A lot of stuff went on last year,” Penny said. “There were a few people I didn’t get along with on the coaching staff that don’t respect people. I mean, me and Joe [Torre] got along fine. I just feel like nobody had my back there. You’re in the clubhouse and you have players coming up to you saying coaches are saying this to them about you. And that’s just not a good situation to be in.”

Coaches?

“Your boy Larry Bowa.”

Anyone else?

“You know what, injuries are out of my control,” said Penny, who did take a cortisone injection in September. “I was hurt. Obviously they didn’t believe me, because of what they were saying. But, they’ll learn. You’ve got to listen to your arm. It’s not all about giving someone a shot. I was hurt. I’m not going to make that up.”

The season before, Penny won 16 games and finished third in the National League Cy Young voting. In 2008, his record was 6-9 and his ERA was 6.27. He pitched only nine innings after mid-June.

“I was trying to protect my career,” he said. “Obviously I don’t throw 88 miles an hour. If they’re too blind to see that, that’s out of my control. It’s funny, man, I don’t know. … They should look at it like I tried to do more than I should have. From the start. They knew I was hurt in spring training. I wouldn’t have been of any help. Yeah, I could pitch. I wouldn’t have done any good.”

jungar – that is some article, and yes, it should be required reading.

messagebear – it’s a miscarriage of justice that will probably only be noticed by the the diehard Dodger fans. However, that still doesn’t make it right by any means, and I am frankly appalled that the Dodger management is doing this to him. They should be thanking him instead of taking him throught this process, whether he wins or not.

Okay – back to movie watching. I will check back in during our next break in the action.

So the Dodgers are having trouble selling spring training tickets. Sign Manny; problem solved. Give him three or four years. They’ll make the money back before the end of the year and have a base for future springs. But, that makes too much sense, doesn’t it?

I’ve actually never posted on another Dodger related blog. I was thinking that you call be “oldbear” because of my physical age, which would be appropriate, except when I really get steamed at our management, which is quite often, and then I feel young enough to want to go a couple of rounds with Frank and Ned and whoever the rotten bast***s want to bring along.

i have been a los angeles dodger fan since i went to the very first dodger-giant game in 1958 (13 years old) i was hooked and have been bleeding doger blue ever since.
i have been reading the blog for 2 years but this is my first time writing.
i am wondering why the dodgers signed loney, kemp and martin but not ethier. could it be that both andre and manny have “agentEGOitis”?
sign me fan58

Bear,
I did not mean a Dodger blog but the Dodger forum. If you are not the same person, forgive me.
.
Welcome Steve (fan58). I don’t think Loney and Kemp are eligible yet. Loney was the last one to join the team of the Jacksonville group. I am sure Ethier will get his well deserved raise.

i have never been able to figure out why management and agents can’t settle when the money is so small (relatively speaking) 2.6mil against 3.5mil. i dont know-how about 3.05mil. settled! everyone is happy. play ball!!

Zero sponsors for nine spots in the new Camelback Ranch facility. The McCourts thought they could just show up in Arizona and everyone would flock. It doesn’t work if the product is not up to par, par being with Manny, not without. Once you have a taste of greatness, it’s hard to live without. Sign Manny and those spots are gone in two hours.

steve ~ we’ve been trying to figure that out and can’t come up with a reasonable explanation. Several players have won their arbitration hearings and I hope Andre wins his too. I know against the Dodgers, hardly anyone wins, but I think his stats will help him.

Part of Frank’s greed on the sponsorships is that he wanted national sponsors, so he spurned the locals. Manny may make a difference to some of them, but seems to me Frank’s asking some large coin for a place that’s in the limelight maybe 4 weeks of the year.

Good Evening ITD readers and writers!!! In the middle of another movie break with my daughter and nephews.

Welcome to ITD Steve!!!! I am glad you decided to post. It will be hard to stop now :)

From my understanding, Andre has tried to contact and negotiate to some degree. I mean to some degree because the communication hasn’t been great the Dodgers aren’t trying to work anything out, and Frank is not budging from his number. So, unless something happens in the midnight hour, Andre will be at his Arbitration hearing tomorrow sometime.

“There’s no way to handicap it,” said general manager Ned Colletti, who helped prepare arbitration cases for the Cubs and Giants before he joined the Dodgers. “The time is right to do it when both sides can’t agree. We’ve tried to avoid it and we will the next 24 hours. We all love Andre. He was the first player I traded for when I came here.”

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.